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Student volunteers recognised at awards ceremony

6 June 2006

The fourth annual UCL Union Voluntary Services Unit Student and Staff Awards ceremony took place in the Old Refectory this afternoon, celebrating the work of the 330 students who this year volunteered to help organisations working in the local community.

Forty of the students were present to collect their certificates from Vice Provost (Academic and International) Professor Michael Worton, who spoke warmly of the contribution made by volunteers in promoting the university as a global institution. He said: “The old adage ‘think globally, act locally’ is true. As UCL continues to establish itself as London’s Global University, the work done by student volunteers in London – the world’s most global city – goes a long way towards helping us to achieve this goal.”

Attendees also heard speeches from Natasha Davies, UCL Clubs, Societies & Student Development Officer, and two student volunteers. Joyce Ngai, a student project leader, spoke about her scheme to organise music workshops for children at a local community centre, and Ed Sugden told of how he organised a book club to help develop young people’s interest in literature beyond the limited scope of the school curriculum.

In 2005/06, the 330 students who gave their time to voluntary activities contributed 10,279 hours of work for 120 different organisations. These figures represent a rise from around 200 volunteers last year. The diversity of the students’ voluntary activities – everything from helping elderly people with their gardening and assisting in after-school homework clubs to translating documents for community organisations and organising fundraising events – was illustrated by the range of projects on display at the reception that followed the presentation ceremony.

For more information on volunteering at UCL, follow the link at the bottom of this article.